- Coming up on this week's news,
confusion reigns over the use of RCDs
with electric vehicle chargers
following a probe by Swedish authorities.
Pictures emerge of the electrical work
of serial botcher Jake Hughes,
and action, Britain's movie production boom
is proving a massive boost for electrical contractors.
Welcome to Electrical News Weekly
in association with Scame,
whether you're listening in the van, on site,
or down at the wholesale counter,
I'm Joe Robinson.
And I've been through the best
of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble.
And as always, if you think you spotted the two words
I've been challenged to slip into this week's show,
comment with them below for the chance to win a prize.
Confusion reigns this week
over the use of RCDs with electric vehicle chargers.
The uncertainty follows a probe
by Sweden's Electrical Safety Authority into charge points.
The Swedes are unhappy
with the chargers from Norwegian maker Easee
as they say they can't see the RCD inside the units.
They've even threatened the company with a sales ban
but Easee says it does include RCDs in its chargers.
They're just not in the traditional style.
They're not on a DIN rail
and they don't have a manual push button for testing.
Instead, the RCD is integrated
into the electronics and the testing is automatic.
It argues that it achieves the necessary protections
and is compliant
with the relevant sections of the standards.
The company says an integrated RCD
is not specifically defined in any standard.
So in place of a dedicated standard
it has applied the relevant parts
of the standards for Type A RCDs and for EV chargers.
And it says its equipment matches
the trip levels and timings of those documents.
It argues, therefore, that its chargers
don't require a separate RCD.
It also says it can achieve the requirement
for a manual test
by adding a digital test button to its app.
Again, it's not clear if this will be accepted
by the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority.
It's now up to the Swedes to either accept
or reject Easee's argument.
The decision could also affect
the half a million Easee units
that have already been installed
across Europe, including the UK.
A number of other EV charger manufacturers
also had integrated RCDs,
but they ditched them in recent years
as concern mounted over their compliance with the standards.
Specifically, they were worried
about one particularly difficult requirement
that the contacts need to survive
a short circuit on their output
without any protection from an MCB in a consumer unit.
This is difficult for circuit board relays to achieve
as they're not as substantial as the traditional contacts
you'd find in the hardwired RCDs
used in electrical installations.
These manufacturers now recommend
that installers fit an RCD unit
in addition to their charger.
Some say the problem stems from the fact
that the standard for EV chargers,
IEC 62955, is not recognized by the wiring regulations.
So the only way to fully comply is
to have a traditional Type A RCD with a manual push button
protecting the incoming cable.
The controversy has left electrical contractors in doubt
over whether to connect a separate RCD
to an Easee charger or not.
They'll now have to wait
until the Swedes publish their verdict
in a week's time to get certainty.
Interestingly, a couple of years ago,
we carried out an RCD test on an Easee charger
and found that it tripped
within the required times quite comfortably.
If you'd like to see the proof
I've left a link in the show notes
to a video showing that in some detail.
Maybe the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority
should subscribe to eFIXX.
We could have saved them a ton of time
in their investigation.
Also, they could help us out by replying
to the sudden influx of Swedish viewers
who've been leaving comments on there the past few days.
Needless to say, we'll watch developments closely
on this story as it flip flops backwards and forwards
and keep you posted on both our website
and in future Electrical News Weekly bulletins.
In other news, electricians working at a factory
building nuclear warheads are threatening to walk out
in a row over the cost of living.
A hundred sparks employed by NG Bailey
at the Atomic Weapons Authority in Berkshire
are voting this week on whether to take strike action.
The dispute is over NG Bailey's alleged refusal
to pay a bonus of £6.50 an hour,
despite it being given the green light by the authority.
The extra payment is being given
by other electrical contractors on the project,
says the Unite Union.
If the workers vote for industrial action,
the strikes could begin in March.
Unite boss, Sharon Graham, said that NG Bailey's behavior
was beyond comprehension.
The union has urged the company
to return to the negotiating table.
One man who won't be returning
to electrical work anytime soon
is fake spark, Jake Hughes of Chester.
You'll recall that in last week's bulletin
33-year-old Hughes of Scaife Street, York,
was found guilty at Chester Crown Court
of falsely advertising himself
as a fully qualified electrician
and a member of the NICEIC.
And now images have emerged
of his botch jobs in homes across Chester.
His workmanship was so bad it often had to
be completely removed and started again from scratch.
The judge sentenced to 15 weeks in prison
suspended for two years,
but one of Hughes victims, Dr. Amy Bonsall,
says the starting point for such offending should be higher.
This would've made it easier
for the court to put Hughes behind bars.
As it was, the judge said he was spared prison
by the skin of his teeth.
The booming movie sector is providing a massive boost
for electrical contractors.
The UK is actually set to overtake Hollywood
for studio space in the coming years.
It's building one and a half million square feet
of film and TV space to cope with the demand
from streaming services such as Netflix.
Pinewood, Elstree, and Shepperton are all expanding,
and they'll be joined by new facilities
such as the massive Sunset Studios in Broxbourne,
which is set to be the UK's biggest.
The buildings need extraordinary levels
of electrical installations.
For instance, on the new Sky Studios in Hertfordshire,
M&E contractor Lorne Stewart installed
five and a half kilometers
of heavy duty high voltage cabling
as well as thousands and thousands of sockets for equipment.
Because Sky was so desperate to start production,
they moved in before the project was completed.
This meant Lorne Stewart had to wire it up
while big name actors did their thing before the cameras.
But don't expect any selfies with the A-listers.
The electricians had to hand in their phones every day
in case they were tempted to take some sneaky snaps.
So no images of wigwams in Westerns
or spaceships in Star Wars can be leaked.
They also had to sign non-disclosure agreements as well.
And finally, TV's most prominent electrician
is hanging up his tool bag after just a year in the trade.
Emmerdale's Darcy Grey has called time
on playing electrician Marcus Dean
in the ITV soap after 54 appearances.
We didn't get to see that much of his actual work,
but Dean appears to be a very experienced
and highly qualified man.
Emmerdale's other spark, Noah Dingle,
caused controversy in the trade
when he emerged from a six-week stay in prison
as a fully qualified electrician.
Now, just before we get to your favorite bit of the show
where I reveal last week's challenge words and winners,
we want to thank our premium partners.
We couldn't make the news without you.
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Big thanks to you both.
We really appreciate your ongoing support for the news.
If you think you know the words
I've smuggled into this week's show,
pop your guess into the comments
and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize
to the first to get the right answers.
Last week's words were poppycock and cacophony,
and quite a few people got it right,
including the ECA's very own Darren Crannis over on LinkedIn
but sadly he's not in the pink this time
as he was beaten to the punch by long-term fan
of the show and regular commenter Sean Dempsey
who despite his crippling self-doubt
was the first one past the post this week.
Well done to you, Sean.
Please click the link
in the description below to claim your prize,
but really pleased about that one.
Coming up for the rest of the week,
we've got a Q&A on double pole devices
from our new presenter, James Curnow,
and keep your eyes peeled
as we bring a couple of new collaborators on board
in the coming weeks too.
It's also a live stream week
so we'll have all the usual fun and games
from the team on Wednesday evening.
And this week we are being joined by Big T.
That's Trevor Palmer off of EV Blocks
who is a fascinating person with a great story.
Hopefully he'll get onto his past travels
in the plug and socket towards the end of the show there,
so make sure you're dialed in for that.
And as well as the ongoing competition
for a Virgin Experience Day
with Marshall-Tufflex that closes at the end of the month,
we've also launched a brand new free training package
to help you with your CPD,
this time on the subject of best practice
when changing a consumer unit.
So check both of those out.
There'll be links in the show notes.
Thanks for listening to this episode
of Electrical News Weekly in association with Scame.
Make sure you subscribe to receive the next update.
Thanks for listening,
and until next time have a great week.
Stay safe out there.
And remember, there's no such thing
as a torque calibrated arm.